Dead Poets Society: Take Two
by FisherKing
Summary: A Story for all of the DPS characters. I figured if I was going to critique, I could give you something to critique. It's only fair. Allow me to stress that this isn't cliche.“The fact that you don’t want one of us as an in-law hurts.”
1. Step One is a Doozy

It was relatively chilled outside, the sun added no warmth but instead an ironic sunny disposition that shone over the grey stone of Welton academy. At least there was time to kill before the dreaded opening ceremony.

"This'll be fun," There was a mocking sing-song note to the voice at Steven's ear. "Like usual." He turned to glance stoically at his twin sister who wore a bitter expression.

"Shut up, Rachel." Steven rolled his eyes as Rachel swung her suitcase in front of her absently.

"Thanks for your support." Rachel was slightly shorter than Steven, her features she had inherited from their father with a broad square face and rounded lips that seemed to always remain in a line. Her eyes were large, exactly like their father's and a deep intelligent brown.

"It's a huge part of my responsibility." Steven's mouth puckered as he scanned the smattering of people for a face or figure of one his friends. "Whatever you do," He looked to Rachel whose face was still adorned with a sour face, masking her insecurity, "Don't do anything stupid. I think you can find room assignments over there." He gestured to a crowd of people that had taken a wooden board hostage before he disappeared.

"Fantastic." Rachel ran a hand over her smooth and flawless bun, her hair a shade lighter than her brother's before she joined the clamoring crowd. It was a start.

Her younger brother by a whopping 127 seconds, wandered until someone found him. He had discovered that wandering with no intention was bound to come up with an intention eventually. The one approaching him not unlike a furious Bull was named Charlie Dalton. The sharp angles in his hair indicated he had been tugging it. _Never_ a good sign when Charlie was concerned.

"Can you _believe this?_" Charlie's face was red in his anger as he stormed up to Steven. "Cameron, fucking Richard Cameron is _my_ roommate! **Kill!** _**Kill!**_"

"My Summer vacation was good too, thanks." Steven adjusted his glasses, his brow furrowing as Charlie's faced snapped from fiery inferno to mute awe, his eyes fixated on something behind Steven's head. The redhead turned to see what had captivated Charlie's interested and saw a troupe of girls walk past in fashionable winter coats, carrying leather suitcases. "I thought the rumor was a joke, total bullshit…tell me that Hell has finally frozen over…" His voiced cracked and Steven sighed impatiently.

"Yeah, enough socialite parents whined about how they wanted their girls to grab the next "generation of best" first. When Nolan said no, _tons_ of parents brought it to the Board and _here_ they are. My sister has joined their ranks too." He lamented and Charlie broke away, his interest piqued as he looked to Steven, the Dalton smirk wide on his face.

"You _don't_ say…" He trailed off in a suggestive sounding thought, rattling Steven purposely. Steven's complexion reddened as he huffily adjusted his glasses.

"Now you look here-" He was cut off by Charlie's loud laugh.

"Kidding, _kidding_," His draped his arm across Steven's shoulders lazily, happy to be back with at least one of his friends. "But you do realize what this means right?" Steven waited for a reply as Charlie lowered his voice wickedly. "_Panty raids_."

* * *

The boys discovered that some construction had been done on Welton, a new dorm. They also found that the shiny new building was for the girls and they bleated at the unfairness of it all-to each other.

Rachel was currently trudging down the eerily quiet dorm with pristine white walls looking for room 42 that she'd be sharing with a _Wilde, Stephanie_. The door was ajar when she approached her new room. She hesitated before entering and saw he new roommate sitting at the desk on the right side of the room. "Oh! Hi!" The blonde girl stood, taller than Rachel and offered a nervous wave. "Uhm, I wanted to wit for you to get here because I didn't know if you had a side preference or not."

It was silent as Rachel sized Stephanie up, trying to figure out her character other than she was obviously nervous. They had just met and Rachel was already intrigued. Stephanie's figure suggested that she was very active and the only reason her hair came into scrutiny was because nothing had been done with it. It was just down and _everywhere_, something Rachel didn't like and made her stiffen at the sight. "You…you _are_ Rachel Meeks, right?"

Rachel dropped her suitcase, extending a professional hand. "Yes, Stephanie Wilde?" The blonde nodded, looking somewhat more relaxed when Rachel replied but didn't shake Rachel's hand. The same hand that ended up being flexed and rested back at Rachel's side.

"Side?" She inquired with her head at an incline, her long, straight hair spilling over her shoulders.

"I'm more prone to the right, if you don't mind." Rachel was testing her to see if Stephanie was as nice as she seemed.

"Noooo problem," Stephanie kicked her battered suitcases to the other side of the room. "We should probably leave soon, opening ceremony and everything." Stephanie bit her lower lip as she swayed on her feet, glancing towards the door.

"Yes," Rachel glanced at her watch. "About ten minutes."

* * *

The bagpipe squeaked its nasally tune as a procession followed suite with banners and pomp. Neil watched in the pew next to his father who looked uncharacteristically bored. "Neil, how many opening ceremonies have we been to now?" He whispered and Neil looked at his father incredulously.

"This would be the fourth, Father. Only one more aft-"

"No you nitwit," His father interrupted as Nolan started speaking. Neil snapped his back straight as he heard his father's irritated tone. "I mean, how many stories have we been in that we had to sit through this goddamn thing?" Neil immediately relaxed again and rolled his eyes.

"Too many fucking times to count." He folded his arms and slumped like a spoiled chilled before glaring up to the ceiling. "And now we're going to have to do it _again_." His father joined in glaring at where they assumed the omnipotent author sat staring down at them. Don't push me you assholes.

"No," Mr. Perry straightened his tie. "No me, not _again_." Exchanged glances were sent to all the main characters as Neil stood and the room fell silent. "You guys want to skip out of this chapter?" He thrusted a thumb towards the exit. "Nolan says the same thing every time except now there's girls at Welton."

"…Yeah, alright." Charlie was the first to agree and climb over people to the exit. The rest of their friends followed including Rachel and Stephanie because they had been introduced already.

"Not _you_." Cameron barred a brunette with fashionable glasses.

"And why the hell not?" She crossed her arms, daring him to fight with her.

"You're not a main character yet. _You_ don't get introduced until a few chapters from now! Fuck off." He pushed her back in the direction of her seat as she steamed.

"Eric, you _bastard_. You _better_ fix this soon." Look, being author/narrator really isn't easy when all of your characters decide to play hookie. I'm working on it. Just enjoy the opening ceremony.

Nolan cleared his throat impatiently. "May I continue?" He asked arrogantly.

Yes, continue. Please.

"As I was saying…"


	2. Blase

After the ceremony, students returned or just entered their dorm rooms. The girl's dorm wasn't as quiet as his had been, there was a hum of awkward conversation that drifted in rooms, putting residents at a little more ease.

"I'm here purely for the education, same reason my brother attends." Rachel was sitting on her bed primly with her brown pencil skirt unruffled. Stephanie was using the radiator to help her stretch in a multitude of positions that looked painful and left Rachel curious but silent on the matter.

"Oh! Your brother goes here too?" She asked to keep the conversation going.

"Yes, we're twins." Rachel paused, wondering how Stephanie was able to extract such conversation. It wasn't that Rachel had no friends but she wasn't the type to sit and gab about everything. "Why were you sent to Welton?" She reflected off herself and to the curios roommate.

Stephanie laughed for a split second. "A few reasons," she pulled up the waist of her grey wide leg trousers before she jumped onto her bed, all the air knocking out of her. "_Ow_," she wheezed, Rachel flinched at the painful noise. Stephanie laughed again, "Not as comfortable as I thought!" Her laughter died away, humming thoughtfully as she stared at the white ceiling. "This is my first time at a boarding school. I'm terrified."

Rachel had no idea how to respond other than "Forty minutes until dinner."

* * *

It had all been fun and games until Mr. Perry had showed up. Spoilsport. Charlie broke the tension the only way he knew how after they had regrouped in Neil's room. "So, Steven here has a sister at Hellton." Steven winced as all eyes were fixed on him and he was suddenly flooded with questions such as "can she sit with us and bring friends?" And the like.

"Thanks Dalton, you're a pal." He shot towards his smirking friend.

"They are _completely_ valid questions. Your sister is like, our babe ticket-not that I'm saying your sister _isn't _attractive, I mean I don't really know."

"No, _please_ say that. You morons better leave her alone," He made eye contact with each one of his friends _and_ the new boy for extra measures. "Rachel likes to keep to herself, there's no "babe-ticket"," Steven bitterly quoted the air as he glared directly at Charlie. "There, _okay_? She's here for the _education_," there was a chorus of dubious noises ignited by Charlie and a leering Knox. Steven continued to speak through them. "So don't mess with her, no, I'm _serious_."

"We won't, Meeks," Neil placed a sincere hand on his shorter friend's shoulder. "You may have to watch out for Todd though," Todd's attention jerked to Neil when he heard his name. "Todd's a natural born lady-killer," Neil winked and Todd flushed scarlet, ducking his head down from attention. "Isn't that right?"

"I _mean it_ you guys, leave Rachel alone. The less I have to be around her, the _better_."

Knox scoffed, exchanging glances with Charlie. "The fact that you don't want one of us as an in-law _hurts_." Knox joked, Steven looked at him stoically with his head inclined.

"Your assumption that you're one of the 'Generations Best' _hurts_, Knox." Another cacophony of appreciative and joking noises followed Steven's remark as Knox was administered a series of punches from everyone in the room.

Charlie laughed, catching the smile that tugged at Steven's mouth. "Beast," he held out his hand, palm up. "Skin it." And Steven slid his palm across Charlie's appreciatively. Maybe this year wouldn't be such a disaster after all.

* * *

At dinner Steven could've _eaten_ his last thought as he saw his sister approach the table with another girl in tow. "May we?" Rachel gestured to the empty seats and Charlie agreed before she had finished her question, sitting across from him. "This is Stephanie Wilde." Rachel introduced as Stephanie sat mutely in front of Steven. "This is my brother, Steven and his miscreant friends, no doubt." Cue in Steven's facepalm.

"I think there was a compliment in there somewhere," Charlie teased, looking to a grinning Knox.

"I'm Neil Perry." His voice was warm and inviting. "This is Todd Anderson, Richard Cameron, Knox Overstreet, Ch-"

Charlie leaned in towards Rachel. "Charlie Dalton" he extended his hand and Rachel shook it begrudgingly.

"Enchanted." She replied in a voice that thought otherwise.

"You will be," Charlie winked before he caught Steven's attention. "Ray of sunshine, your sister."

"Thanks for stating the obvious." Steven replied as he continued to fold into himself, wishing he were anywhere but here. "Pass the hash, would you?"

Neil waited for their interaction to finish with an amused expression that tried to pretend he wasn't. "Gerard Pitts and I'm sure you know your brother. We're pleased to have you join us." Hidden in her hair, Stephanie couldn't suppress the roll of her eyes. Was this guy for _real_?

"...We are?" Cameron asked dubiously around a mouthful of pork. A hard jab to the ribs from Knox came soon afterwards.

"What was your friend's name?" Charlie said,Asking Rachel and looking towards an oblivious Stephanie. Rachel replied in a clipped voice, picking at her boiled string beans. Charlie whistled. "_Wilde_, I _like_ that. D'you live up to your name then, Wilde?" He tried to draw her into the conversation. Stephanie cleared her throat, posture straightening.

"No." She returned to forking the food on her plate.

"Well…" Charlie searched for words to respond with. He had expected a different answer, maybe a clear, an acknowledgment or a joke but not such a _bland_ reply. Disa-_ppointed_. "That does leave one lacking."

"That seems to be what I do best. If you'll excuse me," She grabbed a red and yellow apple before excusing herself and leaving. "I have to unpack still."

"Could I be of any assistance?" Charlie called after her to no response. "That's disappointing. She's really good-looking, too bad she's such a square."

"Charlie, that's _not_ fair, you _don't_ know her." Knox interjected after he caught the glare that Neil was sending in Charlie's direction.

"Like I said, _'miscreant_ friends.'" Rachel sent a pointed glare in Steven direction as he sighed and considered beating himself to death with the bread roll he had in his hand.

"Would you _shut up_?" He whispered leaning forward towards her. "Look, they're _my_ friends and I'm _sorry_ they _aren't_ good enough for you. If it makes you feel _any _better, I wish I could go back and fix everything that had happened and that I was the one that had died. Happy?" He snapped as Rachel flinched. Her hardened expression cracking into abhorrence. Faces around the tab;e fell silent and wide eyed as they all watched the exchange. Rachel, as graceful as ever, cleared her throat before she scooted her chair back and left calmly without a word.

A frustrated sound ripped from Steven's throat as he threw his roll, landing it in Cameron's bowl and splattering soup everywhere. "_Hey_! What the _Hell_?!"

Charlie bust a gut at Cameron's expression, Steven just mumbled an apology, his mind stuck on other much more frustrating topics like how he now felt guilty and knew he'd have to apologize to his sister.

"…You wanna talk later?" Pitts spoke over the shocked and irritated rant Cameron was understandably spluttering out. Gerard had watched the interaction with confusion, his stomach sank when Steven shook his head. "You wanna tell me at least what that was all about?" Steven shook his head again and Pitts sighed in defeat.

* * *

Apples always tasted best in trees. There was a crunch as Stephanie took another bite from her fruit and sighed, knocking her head back on the trunk of the tree she sat in. She didn't know why she left, she really shouldn't have. It was just a lot to take in all at once, she had never been very good with new social situations.

Charlie seemed like a really fun guy, she had no doubt in her mind that they'd be good friends as soon as Stephanie fit into her skin again. Knox was adorable in that little boy way-Neil was obviously the Alpha dog. She didn't know much about the other four but Steven and Rachel didn't seem to be in he best mood with each other. Understandable, they were siblings and now they had to compete in the same school. Good luck.

Rachel... she liked Rachel quite a bit. She seemed _so_ serious though. Distanced and professional...at least Stephanie would never have to worry about a messy dorm room and she liked that.

* * *

Breakfast was relatively normal but there was no sign of Rachel. Stephanie had come over to offer a morning greeting, flash a shy yet brilliant smile and sat next to Todd who seemed more clumsy and awkward than yesterday. Every time Charlie asked her a question or spoke in her direction, Neil flashed a warning expression. _Think before you talk_. Most times his response was a shake or a nod, occasionally a shy smile or an are-you-retarded expression was awarded. The latter was largely in response to Cameron. She had grabbed some apples and pastries before leaving, making a mental note to give them to Rachel.

"You need to wear skirts Stephanie." Charlie remarked as they walked to their first class.

"And distract you in class? No thanks." She teased. At Charlie's surprised expression she frowned "What? I have nice legs!" She protested defensively, almost in the mood to hike up the legs of her wide trousers to prove it.

"You _suddenly_ have a personality too. Were you hiding that in your pants as well?" Charlie replied back with his signature smirk.

"I can hide _alot_ of things in my pants Charlie." She was _not_ flirting. Honest. When She saw Rachel she spit off from Charlie's side and approached her roommate with a smile and soft voice. Last thing she wanted was for Rachel to seem like she was going to be lectured. "Hey, you left before I woke up-"

"I wake up early." Rachel snapped defensively, Stephanie's hands were up in surrender as soon as she heard the sharp tone of voice.

"That's okay, I also didn't see you at breakfast so I brought you some stuff." She laid an apple and all the pastries on Rachel's desk as Rachel did a double take.

"…Thank you?" She was confused as Stephanie shrugged, taking the window seat next to her.

"No problem."

Class after class passed. Lunch only seemed to last five minutes before they all returned to Chemistry, Latin, Trigonometry and a few other "fun" subjects. The only eventful one was English class with that new zany teacher from London. Thank _God_ that it was _finally_ the _last_ period of the day. Study hall was always appreciated and then all the time before diner to do homework and have study groups with friends was always fun.

Charlie was pleased to discover he was in most of the classes that all of his friends were in except some advanced classes that Neil and Steven were in. Rachel was also in some of those advanced classes but all the classes he was in he shared with Stephanie. She was fun to get to know along with another girl (with fashionable glasses) that Stephanie had formed a tentative friendship with named Anna.

Suddenly, Cameron stormed in and ruined all the flowing consciousness of the story. "Hold on, hold on. We told Anna she wouldn't be here for another few chapters." Shut Up Cameron.

"Well, that's not the only problem," Charlie joined Cameron's scowling side. "Eric, I've realized-we've _all_ realized that your past writing has been….distinctly unfunny and much more cliché and chick-flickish. We've decided that this has to stop."

Bugger. Look, I realize you want your funny bits but I have a reputation to uphold and an audience to captivate. Making this about girls in Welton and all that Jazz is what they want-complete with snogging.

"Yes but I never get to snog _anyone!_" Cameron wailed a sound that pierced ears and (by some miracle) Charlie ignored as he continued to question on with passionate yet annoying fervor.

"Whatever happened to your _bloody_ poetic license mate?"

This isn't _poetry_, it's _fan fiction_ and you're making my job a whole lot harder by pissing me off.

"We're just exercising our rights to '_not walk_', if you know what I mean."

I'm going to get you a good _spanking,_ if you know what I mean.

"Oh. OH! Here it is! Here it is! Come read about violence inheriting the system!"

**- O N E M O M E N T P L E A S E -**

The BBC would like to apologize on behalf of the previous discourse. We are taking steps to prevent such a heinous outburst from ever occurring again. This FanFic will be brought back to you shortly. Meanwhile, we'd like to ask our readers to be patient with us and join us after this small commercial break.

Thank you.


	3. WHat?

We left off at: Charlie was pleased to discover he was in most of the classes that all of his friends were in except some advanced classes that Neil and Steven were in. Rachel was also in some of those advanced classes but all the classes he was in he shared with Stephanie. She was fun to get to know along with another girl (with fashionable glasses) that Stephanie had formed a tentative friendship with named Anna.

We're continuing with: Mah mama raised me with a theory. She believed that _nothing_ should be restricted, that _nothing_ should be limited-and Ah mean _noth-ing_. If it were, mah brother and ah wouldn't be able to teach ourselves how to keep it in moderation.

Sorry, wrong channel.

Anna was the sort of girl you could look at and think she was sweet and cuddly, it was after you spoke to her one realized she wasn't one to be trifled with. Of course, that was usually learned through repeated trial and error. She was also the kind of girl that would follow Stephanie around, second guessing everything she said and criticizing the colour of her socks-which was silly because the 1950s had very strict rules on sock colour production and there was nothing anyone could do about it because tye-dye wasn't in fashion yet. Either way, Stephanie took it in stride and Rachel did not but made for a nice balance. However, the description of group dynamics was put on hold when the group formed in the rec. room for some rather less silly writing.

Todd was in the corner, answering Chemistry questions while Charlie and Neil struggled through math. Cameron really did try to help them as best as he could. "Hey, um, can I sit with you guys?" The din that surrounded their table stilled for a fraction when their eyes landed on Stephanie. There was an uncomfortable silence as the boys traded glances, Steven was adamantly saying no to Charlie's suggestive shrug. Meeks glared his _bad-idea_ expression towards both Charlie and Neil, the latter looking on with no readable expression as Cameron watched from his braced position between Neil's and Charlie's chairs.

"Please sit with us." Neil said, a warm smile on his face as Meeks groaned, beating his head down on the table. Why wasn't it obvious that this was a _bad. Idea?!_ Pretty gir-_very_ pretty "shy" girls were _always_ a problem, confound it all! "Maybe we could help you with any homework questions you could have." Neil smiled warmly as Stephanie sat across from him and next to an acerbic Meeks.

She smelled _awfully_ good…

Cameron nodded, "Yeah, the work here is pretty tough," Cameron looked to her with an agreeable expression as Stephanie tilted her head, amusing him. "We all get together in study groups to help each other. D'you need any help?"

Stephanie regarded Cameron coolly for a moment before pulling an indifferent face and shaking her head. "No, thank you, I finished my homework." Pitts gave himself whiplash because of how fast he turned to look at her.

"You're _finished?!_" The screwdriver that he had been holding in his mouth fell onto the table. Meeks winced at the noise.

"_Yes_…I did it in _class_. It was pretty simple stuff." She shrugged and relaxed back into her chair as wide eyes were passed around the table before Cameron but them back in his head.

"Ugh, gross." He muttered, pulling a stray piece of lint off one eye first.

"What're _you_ working on?" she edged towards the contraption that Steven and Gerard were fighting with. It was a curios sight, lights wires neatly tucked into a rectangular cork board.

"Rrradar, radar." Pitts caught himself in time. He was very proud of himself and looked to Steven for approval but instead was met with a roll of Steven's eyes and a flippant shake of the head.

"Nothing you'd be interested. Science stuff-hey!" Meeks stared at her as she pushed his chair over, substituted the new space with her chair and sat down.

"Crystal radio huh? Hot stuff." She sniffed appreciatively as she ducked down to get a better look at it. "I like it."

_Now_ Meeks was interested. Adjusting his glasses smartly to look at her with a challenging expression. All right, so she had been lucky, it was time to dive deeper. "How'd you know that?"

"Easy, no batteries." She sat him and flashed him a charming smile. Steven continued to stare at her with an expression that demanded and explanation. "You think I'm stupid." She guessed with a cheeky grin.

"Well if he doesn't, _I _do." Anna dragged a chair up to Stephanie before sitting. "Is it just me or is our History teacher a total creep?" She rolled her eyes in disdain. Despite the fact that it was _very_ true, they didn't have time to discuss it. "What's that?" Anna glared suspiciously at the innocent radio. Steven motioned for Stephanie to explain; testing her.

"Crystal radio-"

"-_crystal?-_" Anna interrupted skeptically. Stephanie clapped a hand over Anna's mouth so she might have a chance to meet Steven's challenge. "Because the human ear is extremely sensitive to very faint sounds, and the amount of energy received in this particular radio are measured in billionths of a watt, we can still hear it-precisely less than a millionth of that. These radios pick up-"

"Excuse me, _excuse_ me," Charlie interrupted, half-annoyed as usual. "Can I make a speculation?"

Out of nowhere, a Sherlock Holmes hat appeared on Charlie's head complete with a monocle in one eye and a bubble blowing pipe at the tip of his mouth.

"I speculate…that no one _cares_ about a crystal radio or it's mechanics-"

"-Objection!" Pitts and Steven sprang to their feet in protest.

"-Shut up. And I speculate that everyone really just want to get to the sex scenes." Charlie carried on, ignoring Cameron's mild scream as a bubble popped in his eye.

Through the power invested in me, a smack will be coming your way-very shortly.

The cringe worthy sound of skin-on-skin echoed through the room leaving Anna in an offensive samurai pose. "That was quite _fun_ actually." She examined her palm-ignoring the sting because that's what beastly people did. "Hey, whatever happened to Rachel?"

Oh. Oh shit.

"Yes," Stephanie looked pensive as her blue eyes flicked in Steven's direction, grinning coyly as Steven's back stiffened when he noticed. "Whatever _did_ happen to Rachel?"

I forgot about her, alright?! God, let's just pretend this chapter never happened. Curse you all.


End file.
